New Year’s Eve. Amateur Night. Ole Year’s.

My friends all have different names for this particular evening. What do you call it? Over the years, I have rung in the New Year in a variety of ways: on the water, at the beach, dancing, evening dress, on the street in West Palm, in the mountains of Colorado, driving down I-75, sitting quietly at home, an elegant champagne party with my lovely friends, in a fleabag motel in Nowhere, NM. I have my own opinion, based on experience, that the best years have been preceded by the least amount of celebration. Perhaps it is just me; maybe you blow it out every year and every year keeps getting better. For me, the years I’ve had the craziest nights have been the worst years (worst is relative here…not all terrible, but in comparison to others, not at all great). When I have taken the simple, low-key approach, those years have turned out pretty well. Is there a true correlation? Probably not; but for this superstitious Southern girl, I’ll take a quiet evening.

Wanting to start this year off on the best possible footing (because Lord knows I need it!) I went for a simple elegant evening at home. Dinner with my lovely man and a couple of friends. True…I’m recently back in Birmingham and don’t really know anyone, but that’s just fine. We had a wonderful meal, great champagne, good music, and fabulous company. What better way to start 2012?

The best part about it was, I got to flex my Southern girl muscle. Dinner party? That means only one thing to us entertainers: linens, china, silver, flowers, music, LBD, pearls…wait, I guess it means many things. In any event, it was time to do it right. So Emily Post and I set the table:

There is something so great about crystal, silver and white linens! Very classic…I hope.

Then of course: the music was Miles, the menu was filet medallions with a bearnaise sauce, creamed spinach and roasted potatoes. Oh…and I found my pearls!

It was simple, elegant and warm. The perfect way to start off what I hope is a fantastic year! Cheers y’all!

I get homesick – and often. I recently moved from Denver, and while I am certainly not reminiscing about snowy drives to work and 12 degree days, I have lately been thinking about spring days in my old neighborhood. Capitol Hill is a wonderful place to live – or to visit. On foot, or by car, there is wonderful, eclectic mix of vintage shops, record stores, dusty book shops…oh, and people! If live music is your thing, as it is mine, there is something to satisfy every night of the week.

I started thinking about the perfect day, and night, in my old stomping ground. If you have the occasion to visit, perhaps this map will help a bit.

Finding the Story

Have you ever started a story, then found a different track, then discovered that the best story is the one you hadn’t planned  for at all? This project started out as a sort of collage of covering live music. I planned to give a deeper look into the music journalist’s “life.” As I sat down to listen to the music I wanted to use, songs just hit me- the stories they tell, the mood they put you in, the emotions they can elicit. So the story morphed into one about songwriters. I know many songwriters, all of whom are excellent craftsmen. This should be easy, right? The problem was, I only have about two minutes to tell the story. Given all the talented people I could talk to, there was no way to condense this feature into two minutes. So I took a hard look at what was drawing me in the most.

The Storyteller

Ryan Chrys is my friend, but he is also a very talented musician. I had the opportunity to attend a release party earlier this  year for  his solo effort - one that was a long time in the making - and I could not have been prouder. Chrys is a person who loves, lives and learns, then uses his music to tell his story so that others may benefit. He shared with me so much more than I can show in two minutes, but I hope I have at least captured a tiny bit of who he is and what he has to say.

Putting It All Together

The photos were easy - well somewhat. I have been photographing Chrys in a variety of settings for the last three years. Many of the photos in this slideshow are from his CD release, but some are of other shows with his band the Demon Funkies. Choosing the songs was a bit more of a challenge. I had two minutes. I love this CD. How do you pick just a bit here or there? I listened. I closed my eyes, cranked the volume, thought of the pictures, and listened. What you hear is exactly what I heard as I envisioned the slideshow. Again, two minutes…not enough. The narration was easy enough - I simply thought about my friend, and who he is. Then I spoke. Garage Band, iMovie, and all the pieces came together.

I will expand on this. This story is too big for two minutes. There is so much more to this man that needs to be shown. But for now, here is two minutes of Ryan Chrys. I hope he is proud, and I hope you enjoy.

I love Apartment Therapy. Being a fan of small places, I’m always on the lookout for small and fabulous homes.  This site is an amazing resource for how people around the world make the most of their “nooks and crannies.” Their Small, Cool Contest is one I always hope to enter, yet never find myself really ready for. It is enough sometimes to simply peruse the beautiful spaces there and dream.

In scrolling through the Small, Cool 2011 entries, I became inspired once again. This beautiful cottage-style home in California is more than just a great small space. The history of it is interesting – it was a Sears kit home. I know that concept is foreign to us these days. You go to a department store catalog, find a plan you want, order it, and you house is delivered for set up. Wait…come to think of it, perhaps that isn’t so much different from going to a builder, looking a plans, grabbing a small piece of dirt that will just hold a McMansion, picking out colors and fixtures that will look like everyone else’s… Oh, I digress.

The kit home was popular in the early parts of the 20th century, as a way to enable home ownership. They weren’t custom homes, and they weren’t large, but they offered the American Dream for people all around the country. This particular home was built in 1929. So it definitely has a history. The most amazing thing, however, is how it holds on to that while being made over into a fabulous, beautiful space that is a joy to come home to.

I suppose part of my enchantment arose from the fact that, before I moved back to the South, I lived in a very similar home in Denver. I’m not certain it was a kit home, but so many of the attributes were the same – the layout was almost identical, my home (her name was Dolly) was built in 1927 – that it was certainly easy to find inspiration, at least. I will post more about Dolly later, but I wanted to share with you the idea of a kit home, and propose that, perhaps, if this prefab, catalog-ordered, shoebox of a house can take on such a lovely personality and become a wonderful inviting home, even a rented apartment can have its own personality. Let those creative thoughts run wild, no matter what the history of your home.

Take a look at Cate’s Apartment Therapy House Tour, or any of the other amazing space tours on the site. Scroll through the hundreds of Small, Cool contest entries and find your inspiration. Your home is your sanctuary and it should reflect that…and you. Besides, maybe you could end up in Apartment Therapy’s contest next year.

One of my favorite blogs, My French Corner, has a post that really hit home for me, and I thought I might share. Having recently moved back to the South from Denver, CO, summer hit me full force. Denver is known for wonderful, warm – not hot – DRY summers. Not something you can even daydream about in the muggy South. However, there are a few things about summer here that I had forgotten. Sounds…

My French corner recalls a couple of those, and makes me excited about those humidity-soaked porch evenings. Hello firefly; hello cicada!